Ladies Bikes

We sell lots of bikes to women. About 40% of our customers are female, which is high for a bike shop.

For more about this bike see here.

The only part of a bike that really needs to be different for women is the saddle, as women have 'sit bones' that are further apart.

The ladies frame, or step through style, dates from the days when women wore skirts. The bicycle played a part in the 'Rational Dress' movement that led to women being able to wear trousers. There's a good book to be written on the place of the bicycle in feminist history. More information is here. Still more is here.

A step through frame, to use the non gender specific term, is inherently weaker than a diamond frame with a level top tube. For commuting purposes this doesn't matter, but for load carrying it can lead to whippiness. The loop frame with a curved upper tube is particularly bad for this, whereas frames where the upper tube is not parallel to the down tube (like this one) are almost as stiff as a diamond frame. About half of our female customers prefer a "mans bike" with a diamond frame.

Some bikes are sold as 'Womens Specific Design' with a shorter distance from the saddle to the handlebars as women on average have longer legs and shorter backs than men. Unfortunately this is not that useful, as the differences between women are greater than the differences between men and women. It's the same with height. Women are shorter than men on average, but if you stand in the street it won't be long before you see a woman who is taller than a short man. What matters is to get a bike that fits the individual.

If you would like a traditional bike with a basket we are happy to help. We can supply lots of lovely bags that fit to the bike (and come off easily). See the Rixen Kaul website.

Some women like the shopper bikes, and we always have lots of them.

It says "Ladies Bikes" at the top as this is the old fashioned term most used by people.